Children's Hospital introduces Adopt-A-Floor program

Batson Children's Hospital is looking for groups to participate in an "Adopt-a-Floor" program to help families whose children are hospitalized for extended periods of time.

"Family members don't always feel comfortable leaving their child to go buy lunch or find a snack machine," said Angela Compere, volunteer services coordinator for Batson Hospital. "It can also become a financial challenge when hospital stays are long and mom or dad is forced to leave their job to care for the child."

The hospital is asking for help for these families through a new program where school groups, churches, girl and boy scout troops, community service organizations, Sunday school classes, soccer teams and individuals can provide snacks for the families.

The program asks participants to "Adopt-a-Floor" for one week, whether one week a month, one week a quarter or just one week a year. During that week, donors would provide pre-packaged snacks that do not require refrigeration such as soup, fruit bowls, pudding, crackers, granola bars, fruit bars, and other canned items. To supply one floor for a week with one person from each room getting 2 snacks a day would require 350 snack items.

To choose a week and get information about dropping off the items, please call Angela Compere in Volunteer Services at 815-8277 or email acompere@umc.edu.